“Ah. Of course, sir.” She nodded.
“I believe the gentlemen will find their suites to their satisfaction.” Paul’s face was as expressionless as his voice. “Perhaps if you’d care to follow this footman, he will see you settled.”
“Whatever you say,” grinned the other man, looking at Paul from eyes as blue as the sky. “I’m Geoffrey Sweetings. ‘Sir’ if you want to be odiously pompous about it. And for some completely unknown reason, I’m Ambrose’s friend.” He put a hand on one hip. “Of course, I do enhance his presence. After all, one so dark and one so fair?” His smile was angelic. “We’re quite the ensemble in town, you know. Invited everywhere just to please the eye.” He glanced at Ambrose. “Don’t we, darling?”
“Don’t we what?” answered Ambrose.
“Enchant the masses with our striking dissimilarities?”
“Hah.”
Paul found that his teeth had clenched themselves together at some point during this challenging conversation, and he was pleased to see that it looked as if there were only two more guests.
He wasn’t so pleased to see that they were twins. Nor was he at all pleased when they affixed themselves to Sir Ambrose like limpets and allowed him to slip his hands into inappropriate places.
“Ladies, I believe you will find your rooms to your satisfaction,” he said sternly, refusing to betray with the flicker of an eyebrow that he knew the exact nature of their relationship with Sir Ambrose.
“Oooh, Phoebe, look. Look at the butler…”
“I’m looking at him, Hestia. Well, Inever…”
Two pairs of sherry brown eyes stared at him, eyeing him up and down. He almost felt the looks and it wasn’t a pleasant sensation. For an instant he experienced a flash of sympathy for a rat in those moments before it was attacked and devoured by a pack of ferrets.
“Now, now, girls,” Sir Ambrose’s voice was insistent. “No diversions, remember? You need to settle into your rooms.”
“Yes, darling Ambrose.” Phoebe giggled and cuddled him. “But we probably won’t be using them too much.”
“Of course, my dearest. There is nobody but you for us.” Hestia rubbed herself over his arm. “I hope you have a reallybigbed…”
Harriet tried to suppress a choking cough and unfortunately attracted Sir Ambrose’s attention. His eyebrows lifted a little as he gazed at Harriet over the heads of the two women clinging to him. “Of course, if you two would play elsewhere, I think I could find something to occupy my time…” He winked at her.
“Sir Ambrose.” Paul’s fury and disgust formed a ball in his throat and he pushed the stern words past it. “I trust you will enjoy this visit to the country, and I trust you will also enjoy the hospitality it offers.” He took one step forward. “However, sir, I’m afraid the one thing you willnotenjoy ismy wife.”
